X Marks the Spot
Hornets climb into playoff contention
Hornets' hoodoo over hapless Halifax continued in a game that the home side totally dominated. Take out a scrappy try out of nothing before half time and a late, late consolation effort and you can see, realistically, how far off the pace Halifax were.

Indeed, Hornets had clocked a try before Halifax had touched the ball. Two minutes in, the impressive Lee Doran blasted straight through the Halifax defence; he dropped the ball off to the supporting Dave McConnell, went for the return pass and sent Lee 'Pogo' Patterson scorching away to score.

King made up for the missed conversion by adding a penalty for ball stealing and on the Next foray into Halifax territory, Phil Hasty nicked a cheeky drop goal to put Hornets 7-nil ahead.

Halifax roused, temporarily, from their slumber. Encamped on the Hornets line they forced three back to back sets, but the Hornets defence stood resolute in the face of some determined, but distinctly uncreative running.

Halifax's huffing an puffing came to nought and Hornets marched smartly up to the other end of the field where Lee Doran picked a peach of a pass in traffic to send Matt Firth in for a try. King kicked the extras and, at 13-nil Halifax looked out of ideas.

With the half ebbing away, Halifax got a lucky break. With another move looking likely to fizzle out, some hurried handling and a lucky bounce caught the Hornets defence flat-footed and Wrench was the right man in the right place to give 'Fax a foothold in the game. Haley converted.

Half time, a flattering 13-6.

Halifax started the second half in more determined mood. A tidy scrum move executed by Penny saw Kirk score in the corner after just five minutes. Over-excited by this, Brambini hoofed the ball directly into touch from the kick-off possession. Hornets' retribution was swift and clinical.

Close to the visitors' line, Lee Doran, again, drew defenders to him and his exquisitely timed pass fed Paul Anderson in for a deserved try. King converted.

With the game slipping away, Halifax worked hard to stop Hornets playing. And it worked. The next 15 minutes degenerated into a centre-field slog; Hornets struggling to play round Halifax's dogged resistance: Halifax looking increasingly unlikely to play any meaningful football.

Having ridden out the attrition, Hornets reverted to type. Good hands from a play the ball in centre field - with John Hill as the fulcrum - saw the ball shipped quick-time to Paul Anderson; Anderson hit the hole at pace and smuggled a great pass between defenders for Paul King to gallop away and seal the game. King converted - and, possessed by the Spirit of Nobby Turley, Phil Hasty slammed home another drop goal for good measure.

With only two minutes remaining, Halifax played their most cohesive football of the afternoon, shipping the ball wide to winger George who shot away to score from 50 metres. To little too late, though.

Even in defeat, Haley's conversion was vital as Halifax could prevent Hornets going above them on points difference. As it was, he hoyed the ball into the Pearl Street end and Hornets climbed two places into the last playoff spot.

In the end, this was a job well done. Victory ensured safety in NL1 and Hornets did everything they had to do to give themselves the best possible shot at the playoffs.

While Halifax looked rudderless for much of the game, Hornets were - in equal measure - slick and solid. Lee Doran continued his run of exceptional form. Running high on confidence his performance was an object lesson in determined running, good awareness and pinpoint passing. But this was no one man show.

Paul Anderson and Richard Varkulis troubled halifax every time they carried the ball: Anderson's cultured handling and Varkulis' aggressive power pulling and stretching Halifax out wide. At the back, Ian Gordon and Chris Giles mopped up impressively under a barrage of high balls; and Paul Owen looked more comfortable after his long lay-off.

Up front the Hornets pack was totally dominant. All four props ran and tackled hars and, in Dave McConnell, they had a crafty foil who was a pain in Halifax's backside all afternoon with his sniping runs, willing support and uncompromising defence.

So, with two games to go, 6th place is Hornets' to defend. Rather than this being a matter of 'job done' this is where the hard work really starts - and, on this form, it should be a very interesting September.